millennium tower

The 645-foot tall Millennium Tower in San Francisco settled an incredible 16 inches, and tilted at least 2 inches to the northwest. Recently the City and County Department of Building Inspection (DBI) issued interim guidelines […]

The residential high-rise Millennium Tower in San Francisco has settled a total of 16 inches since opening, 2 inches deferentially. A spokesman for the tower owner blames the settlement on the excavation next door for the Transbay Transit Center, a $2.4 billion dollar project being constructed 60 feet underground.

However, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (Transbay) hired geotechnical firm Arup in 2010. Their initial report indicated that the tower had already settled 10 inches by the time excavation began for the Transit center. Arup seems to have been tasked with design, installation, and perhaps monitoring of a geotechnical monitoring program, some information on the scope is available in a 2012 presentation given by Arup available on the Transbay website.